PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. — John Green, the founder and owner of a business recently cited as an excellent example of how small business can succeed in rural Cape Breton, has died.
It was just last week that the business the 41-year-old started in Port Hawkesbury took home the Excellence in Business award — the top honour at the Fall Awards Dinner hosted by the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We are still kind of reeling from all of it,” said Amanda Mombourquette, executive director of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We spent a wonderful evening with John and his family and his staff and celebrated his excellence in business award with him and we had a wonderful video done and some fantastic pictures. It was a pretty tough thing to wake up to on Monday morning.”
Green’s Funeral Home was started in 1999 on Bernard Street in Port Hawkesbury in the former Rod MacDonald Funeral Home. He was just a young apprentice with a few years experience in the funeral profession when he ‘leapt into entrepreneurship with both feet,’ according to the chamber.
Besides being a pillar to the business community in the quad counties for all those years, Mombourquette also described him as an important community volunteer, citing his role as a volunteer firefighter, in particular.
On a personal note, Mombourqutte said ‘compassion’ and making you feel like a ‘priority’ during a vulnerable time were things he excelled at.
“He’s always treated people like his friends when they were coming in the door in a difficult situation,” she said. “I can tell you as first hand experience I recently buried my own father and John handled all of those arrangements for us with great attention to detail.”
Bruce Varner from the Mattatall-Varner Funeral Home in Truro, also detailed Green’s dedication to the funeral service industry.
“He bought that business at age 21,” said Varner, who is in town to support Green’s family.
“Who can say they own their own business at age 21? It wasn’t always easy. He has built that business from where it was to where it is now and he has some staff who work with him but ultimately, single handedly people went to Green’s Funeral Home because of John Green. That’s who they wanted to deal with.”
Varner said the friendship between he and Green grew over the past 10-15 years as part of a close-knit funeral community in the Maritimes.
“Our profession is quite a small profession so you certainly get to know people through the meetings we have and our yearly conventions, which John was an absolute pillar of those conventions. Everybody looked forward to hearing John and him singing karaoke and being at the meeting.”
Green knew policy and procedure like the back of his hand, Varner noted.
At the funeral home he started Green was the only licensed funeral director and licensed embalmer. As a testament to the close knit nature of the funeral director community, offers of assistance to his family have come in from many provinces so that the business can continue.
“I’ve offered to be there to help out and do what I can do. I’m a licensed funeral director and embalmer myself. There’s other people within Nova Scotia we can call upon as well to help out.
A posting on the Green’s Funeral Home Facebook account noted that ‘his sudden and unexpected death had affected’ them tremendously.
“In the meantime, we want you to know that we are operational and your family will be treated with the same professionalism that you have come to expect. We wish to thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support at this difficult time.”
Visitation for Green will be from 7-9 p.m. on Saturday and 2-9 p.m., Sunday at Green’s Funeral Home, 507 Bernard Street, Port Hawkesbury.
Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Monday at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church.
RELATED:
Former Nova Scotia Liberal premier, MP Gerald Regan dead at 91
